The importance of Jesus

The final part in the series:

 

Guest Post: God’s Role In Restoring Families

November 9th, 2012 by Blythe Scott

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final installment in a four-part series by Blythe Scott, the City Partnership Coordinator at The District Church located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. In this series, Blythe examines what it means for the Church to strengthen and restore families.


The family structure has the ability to either set an individual up for lifelong success or cause devastating lasting effects, more so than anything else in someone’s life. Because of this, the family more than anyone/anything else keeps an individual in cycles of pain and brokenness. I've seen how true this is many, many times. But there is hope even for these seemingly hopeless situations:

The Church.

God calls us as the body of Christ to break the cycles of pain and brokenness in these families. The Church is called to be the hand of God in the world.

Satan is working hard against the family, no matter the situation or circumstances, regardless of race or location. He is working in powerful and supernatural ways to hurt mothers and fathers, tear marriages apart, and cause lasting harm to children. For the sake of these injustices, we must think, pray, discuss and act on behalf of the family while recognizing Satan’s destructive nature.

Remember my story of Jane, the single mom who joined my church? I can honestly say that it is only because of the hand of God that Jane is where she is today. It is not because of my own works that Jane chose to keep her baby; the power of Christ was crucial. And much of the time with Jane, Christ worked through members of my church, through people who welcomed her, spent quality time with her, and listened to her story and struggles. Because of the time I spent with her, Jane asked me to be the godmother of her baby, a position that will allow me to continue speaking God’s redemption into her family. This is Christ working through His Church - because we made ourselves available to be His hands and feet.

This is the bottom line: we are called to make time in our lives for consistent relationships, for doing all that God has called us to in this world (Acts 20:28). And all the while, we must have faith in the power of God to overcome our human limitations and the obstacles of the world. God's Word tells us that He is able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). God does not call us to do the work alone. Rather, He calls us to work together, to intercede before Him, and ask Him to mend what is broken. We must have faith that He hears, responds, and is working passionately to restore the family.